1

Jazz accompany = to play a musical in- strument while someone else sings a qsong ballad = a slow love song In the early decades of the 20th century was the name that was given to music bandleader = someone who leads a played by African Americans. It was a kind of folk music that black people played for band entertainment. Today jazz is performed all over the world and it has also influenced = an instrument like a that is played in country music other kinds of music . birthplace = a place where something first started The features of jazz are its sound and rhythms. Jazz is improvised music that shows brass instruments = instruments like strong emotions and feelings. Typical jazz instruments are the trumpet ,trombone , trumpets, horns etc.. saxophone and . century = a hundred years composer = someone who writes music Beginnings of Jazz = a small trumpet decade = ten years The first jazz was played in the early 20th century. Jazz musicians were inspired by = a large instrument that and which also evolved at the beginning of the century. looks like a violin that musicians play standing up Ragtime was a musical style that came from St.Louis. It was played mostly on the drums =a musical instrument that you hit with your hand or a stick and quickly became popular with . A blues was originally a sad song, a ballad emerge = come up that was sung slowly and accompanied by a piano or guitar. Some people say that blues emotion =feeling were songs that the slaves sung. entertainment =you perform music or a play that people listen to or New Orleans Jazz watch evolve = to grow slowly The birthplace of jazz is New Orleans. In the early 1900s people of many cultures lived feature =characteristic, quality folk music = music that has been in the city: French, Spanish and African-Americans. The music was a mixture of blues, played by normal people for a long black spirituals and rhythms from the Caribbean . time hardly = not very often The typical jazz band was made up of one or two cornet players, a clarinet and a trom- improvise = if you don’t prepare anything, you just invent musical bone player. Sometimes there were , , and drums to accompany the sounds horns. influence =to have an effect on inspire =here: to get ideas or motiva- New Orleans jazz became later known as . As tion from time went on jazz travelled up the Mississippi to Chicago made up =consist of mixture = when two or more differ- and then to New York City. ent things come together musician = a person who plays music jazz emerged as the bands became larger and perform= to do something to enter- had more instruments. There were three parts of a big tain people ; to act a play or play band: brass instruments with trumpets and trombones, music popular = if a lot of people like some- reeds with saxophones and and rhythm instru- thing ments (piano, guitar, double bass and drums) ragtime = a type of music that was popular in America in the early part Famous bandleaders were Fletcher Henderson and Benny of the 20th century reed = a thin piece of wood on an Goodman. Big band jazz was smoother with lighter instrument . You blow into it and it rhythms. Most of the bands had famous soloists like Louis makes a sound Armstrong, the most famous musician of that time. relaxed =calm, stress-free rhythm =beat slave = someone who is owned by Swing another person and works for them for no money The 1930s and the 1940s were called the swing era. Music was free and relaxed during smooth = soft and nice to listen to this period. The start of radio made jazz well-known all over America. Some of the most spiritual = a religious song sung by popular bands of the country were led by , Tommy Dorsey and Glenn African Americans Miller , who was probably the most successful of all. successful =to be very good at some- thing trombone = a metal instrument that Maybe the greatest big band of all times was led by pianist and composer Duke Ellington. you play by blowing into it and you He wrote over 1000 works. His best known songs are “Sophisticated Lady” and Mood In- pull a part of it in and out to change digo”. the notes = a large instrument that looks like a curved tube; it produces very low sounds when you blow into it well-known = a lot of people know The next major jazz style was bebop which lasted until about 1960. It was played in about something smaller groups and hardly in big bands. works = pieces of music 2

Jazz

Bebop musicians improvised not so much the melody as the jazz musicians before , but the tune’s chords. Many bebop pieces were also played very quickly. Centre of bebop WORDS was Kansas City, where the greatest bebop musician, Charlie Parker , grew up. qbirthplace = a place where At the same time as bebop came up in the Midwest emerged in the eastern something first started cities. It was strong and full of energy and stressed the African American sound. The chord = notes that are played electric organ became a popular instrument and Miles Davis was one of the most fa- at the same time and sound mous beboppers of that time. nice cornet = a small trumpet In the 1960s musicians started to look for other ways to improvise jazz. John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman became the greatest performers of , as it was called. drop out = to leave Today jazz is played all over the world, in concert halls as well as in dark night clubs. emerge = to come up Many of the world’s famous jazz festivals take place in Europe and Japan. improvise = if you don’t pre- pare anything, you just invent musical sounds meaning =sense, value Louis Armstrong Midwest = the middle part of Louis Armstrong was America’s the United States greatest jazz musician. He was born in New Orleans , the musician = a person who birthplace of jazz. His father plays music left the family shortly after perform= to do something to Louis was born so the boy had entertain people ; to act a play or play music to spend his early years living with his grandmother. pieces = songs popular = if a lot of people Louis loved all kinds of music. like something He bought an old cornet and producer = someone who learned how to play. When he controls the recording was in third grade he dropped out of school and started sing- note = a musical sound ing on the streets to get money record = a round flat piece of for his family. plastic with a hole in the mid- dle. Many years ago they Louis spent his teenage years selling newspapers and unloading bananas from boats. In were used to save music but his free time he listened to the famous bands of that time. Later on, he started perform- today people have music on ing on steamboats and during this period he learned how to read music and play classical CDs pieces on the cornet. recording = if you save music In 1922 Louis started playing in a band in Chicago and later on moved to New York, on a CD or tape where he played in one of the city’s most famous bands. No one else could play like he steamboat = a boat that uses could. He hit the highest notes easily and played great solos. steam for power and sails along rivers After a few years in New York he went back to Chicago where he made his first re- stress =to make important cordings. Here he started playing the trumpet. During one of the recordings Louis dropped his text on the floor. The producer told him to keep on singing so Louis impro- syllable = a small part of a vised and sung syllables that had no meaning. This became known as “”. word Soon many other jazz musicians tried to copy this style of singing. teenage = age between thir- teen and nineteen His records made him famous and when he moved back to New York in 1929 bandleaders all over the city wanted to have Louis in their orchestras. tune = same as “melody” unload = to take something He not only recorded music, but also performed on Broadway and played in movies. off a ship, truck or train Louis Armstrong was a singer, dancer and master of the trumpet. He travelled all over the world and made people happy through his music.